Troy Planning Commission approves six-month moratorium on data processing centers
By Charles Bolinger
Editor • Now that Cloverleaf Infrastructure’s data center plan in Troy is dead, city officials have been working in the background to craft a moratorium on future data center proposals to give the city’s planning commission time to further research and investigate ways to strengthen the city’s current ordinance.
The planning commission is a recommending body only and it is staffed by volunteers who are Troy residents. At the March 12 planning commission meeting, before an audience of close to 50 people, there were two public hearings held before the main meeting. Three commissioners were absent, Liz Compton, Dr. Danielle Bogue and Matt Reiter.
Troy City Engineer Tom Cissell attended and acted as navigator for the public so they understood the rationale behind the three forums. Cissell and the planning commission tried to explain to the public that they have heard all of the negative commentary regarding data centers since Jan. 8 and there is no need for repetition. He insisted he is not trying to squelch public comment.
Instead, Cissell encouraged those in attendance to provide feedback on the city’s next steps and what things need to be reinforced in the city code regarding data processing centers.
The first public hearing was about the power to establish a moratorium to add to the city’s code of ordinances to allow the planning commission to do a moratorium. Prior to March 12, there was no verbiage in the city’s code of ordinances to enact a moratorium.
Commissioner Rich Curtis questioned if they were limited to six months only while commissioner Mike Nierman asked if the moratorium could be on anything or just data centers?
Planning commission president Jami Stone responded it could apply to anything, not just data centers.
“The definition of a moratorium is ‘a temporary pause to study an issue further,’” Cissell said.
Stone said the commission is working with the city’s attorney to see about extending the moratorium.
“Legally, we’re regulated by six months, so we would have to initiate another one,” Stone said. Cissell said one had to go six months at a time, or less, if desired.
The commissioners unanimously voted to create a moratorium and amending the city’s code.
The second public hearing focused on setting a six-month data processing center moratorium as a permitted special use.
It is “for the limited and specific purpose of investigating, studying and determining whether and to what extent additional zoning, planning and/or permitting regulations, requirements and/or restrictions may be necessary to promote and protect public health, safety, morals and welfare of Troy’s citizens.”
Cissell said if the moratorium passes, the city will then not accept any new applications for a data center for up to six months. That wouldn’t change until the moratorium expires or the city revokes it with a new ordinance, Cissell added.
Carol Black wanted to know if city officials could still talk to Cloverleaf or another company about data centers or is it a total cut-off?
Cissell said talking is always possible, but it’s with the understanding that nothing will happen until at least mid-September, if the city council approves the moratorium.
Cissell said during the moratorium, a rough draft could emerge in June with the final draft ready by September, dating from the date of approval by the Troy City Council.
Cissel said one idea they want to consider is a type of spatial restriction based on the size of an incoming data center.
“If you have a 90-megawatt data center, that’s not as big as a 500 MW data center,” Cissell said. “We can raise the bar on the starting point, depending on how big a data center is.”
Cissell took the city’s existing zoning map and added three lines to it – a yellow one that marks the perimeters of all the city’s subdivisions, and two offset lines, one a quarter-mile away and one a half-mile away.
A woman asked about putting them further away than that but Cissell told her that the state granted Troy with the power to control zoning for anything up to 1.5 miles from its town limit.
“If you made it a mile-and-a-half, you’re outside your planning boundary then that’s effectively a ban on it,” he said to a quick burst of applause.
Stone said anything 1.5 miles out or farther away would become Madison County’s decision, not Troy’s.
Cissell said other ways to reinforce the city’s ordinance include finding the area’s strictest data center ordinances including megawatt restrictions; generator disclosures; utility capacity verification; noise modeling and after studies; water consumption oversight; far stiffer penalties for violations; cooling technology requirements; EPA transparency; generator run times; and a $100 million decommissioning bond in case the data center bubble bursts.
By the time the rough draft is ready this summer, Building and Zoning Director Ann Byrd said City Administrator Jay Keeven will have set up one spot for residents to contribute their two cents, perhaps via email. Stone said residents should reach out to their aldermen with comments, too and those filter back to the planning commissioners.
As the planning commission is only a recommending body, the moratorium will go next to the Troy City Council for reading and passage at the council’s next meeting, which is March 16 at 6:30 p.m. in Troy City Hall, 116 E. Market St. The next planning commission meeting is April 9 at 6:30 p.m. at Troy City Hall. Next month, the first Troy City Council meeting is April 6 at 6:30 p.m.
